Pastoral Care
Balancing mind, body and spirit
We want your daughter to achieve her academic, creative and athletic potential. We also want her to be happy, well-adjusted and fulfilled. That’s why we’re here with her through every success and failure, the good times and the not-so-good ones too.
We make pastoral care our priority
We believe wellbeing is essential for everyone in our community. The cornerstone of our pastoral care is creating a healthy sense of self, providing a wellbeing toolkit, promoting kindness and self-compassion, and encouraging our pupils to be the best versions of themselves.
Once a year, the whole school comes off timetable to celebrate Wellbeing Day, which aims to help pupils explore strategies to find balance and fulfilment in their sometimes hectic lives.
LEH LIFE ADVICE
The LEH Life Advice programme is a planned, developmental system of PSHE (Personal, Social, Health Education) learning through which pupils acquire the knowledge, understanding and skills they need to manage their lives now and in the future. As part of a whole school approach, our programme underpins everything we do academically, developing the qualities and attributes pupils need to thrive as individuals, family members and mindful members of society today.
There’s always someone here to listen
Every pupil has a Form Tutor who acts as her mentor, someone they meet every day who helps her excel academically, nurtures her individual talents and supports her emotional needs. Heads of Year and senior members of staff provide additional pastoral care, which is seen as a priority and is integrated into every aspect of school life.
We have a full-time counselling service and pupils can refer themselves at any time. Our two friendly school nurses are always on hand and our trained Sixth Form Peer Mentors are available for lunchtime chats and organise helpful information sessions on a range of issues. They wear badges so they can be easily identified by younger pupils.
Friendships that last a lifetime
Our year groups are close knit and have a real sense of identity, and the House system provides opportunities for leadership and for making friends across the School. The friendships pupils forge will form an essential support network in the years to come, beyond LEH and in the world of work.
We take online security very seriously
We have a dedicated member of staff who is our Digital Safety Coordinator. Our ‘digital mentor’ system trains Sixth Form Digital Leaders and Form Group Reps to talk to younger pupils and their peers about staying safe online and using social media wisely.
Parents can talk to us
As well as timetabled meetings during the year, parents can speak to the Head Mistress, Deputy Head (Pastoral), Heads of Section, or Heads of Year if they have concerns. Their contact details are on the Parent Portal. Wellbeing Wednesday online parent talks are organised every half term on a range of current issues. These are given by specialist speakers with the aim of supporting parents who are having conversations with their teenagers on topics such as festivals, nutrition, sleep and sibling rivalry.
An ethos of kindness and social awareness percolates throughout the school.
ISI Report, 2022
leh wellbeing toolkit
Here at LEH, wellbeing underpins everything we do. We understand that the relationship we have with ourselves is the most important – and longest – of our lives. That’s why we encourage our students to be mindful, tolerant, compassionate and kind. We provide a wide range of support with our students’ wellbeing, both in the curriculum and through our PSHE (Life Advice) programme. These, together with the small day-to-day things that makes LEH the happy place it is, foster an awareness of our students’ inner strength and resilience, and help them to realise that they have the tools to deal with life when it isn’t going to plan. Which happens to all of us at some time.
We have put together a Wellbeing Toolkit so that you can understand what we do and why we think it is important. I hope you enjoy reading it (click on cover image to view).
Rachel Hart - Head of PSHE
The coalition for Youth Mental Health in Schools
LEH has joined forces with other leading schools to call for urgent action to tackle the growing mental health crisis facing schools in the UK.
Members of the Coalition for Youth Mental Health in Schools, co-founded by LEH during the Covid pandemic, have published a new report on 13th December 2023 on how the education sector can respond to growing challenges around supporting pupils’ mental health.
The coalition’s latest report, called ‘Solutions for a Crisis’, highlights the good work going on in schools to support pupils, but warns that delays in accessing child and adolescent mental health services (CAMHS) in the community are putting a strain on education providers.
To read the full story, click here.
leh values
The LEH Values have been written by the pupil voice with every student having the opportunity to offer their input through the School Council forum.
As LEH pupils we should
- Be kind, polite, helpful, considerate and inclusive in our behaviour.
- Be welcoming and approachable to pupils from across the school, particularly those who are younger or new to the school community.
- Take pride in our school community and our identity as LEH pupils, acting as ambassadors of the school when in uniform whilst commuting, and on school trips.
- Be conscious that we are members of the school and wider community and consider how we can best contribute to it, and foster an inclusive, eco-friendly and socially-responsible society.
- Respect and listen to the opinions, beliefs and cultures of others, celebrating that we all bring different experiences and viewpoints to school life.
- Engage enthusiastically in school life, and in particular recognise the importance of encouraging and supporting younger pupils when interacting with them in this capacity.
- Unite in celebrating the talents and achievements of others, recognising that we each bring different skills and interests to school life.
- Speak out against injustice in the wider world and feel empowered to share our views.
- Be bold in our dreams for the future, determined in our efforts to achieve them, and supportive of our peers as they seek to achieve theirs.
- Hold ourselves to the highest standards of compassion and integrity.
Settling in at senior School
LEH is a welcoming, safe community where students establish strong relationships, learning alongside other talented pupils. We know that building a new student’s sense of “belonging” is vital. So we arrange a comprehensive programme of events to make settling in as easy as possible.
Fun events like treasure hunts, team building and New Students’ lunches are highly successful in helping pupils to bond. Getting involved in sport, music, drama, clubs and societies is a sure-fire way to win friends. Your daughter will soon become part of the team, feel valued, and automatically belong.
Our teachers always bear in mind what it’s like to be a small fish in a large pond. A friendly word often work wonders, and they always make a point of saying “Hello” and smiling at any pupil who’s on their own or looks lost. We’ll do everything we can to ensure your daughter is happy, healthy and thrives at LEH.
Thirds Teambuilding Trip
